Suggestion for improving your artist statement

By Alyson Stanfield on 01.20.09

Some artists need help with their statements more than other artists.

Deborah Paris recently contacted me about hers. Aside from the fact that it was conspicuously missing from her Web site, the statement was okay. It was probably doing a good job for her. I saw nothing there that needed major correcting.

But I did offer her some free advice to help tighten up her statement. You might benefit from what I said:

If you want to save money and make it better, look at it at the same time every day for a week. You’ll find something to tighten it up each time you look at it.

Deborah took my advice and posted the results on her blog. Be sure to read the comments while you’re there.

It sound so simple, but most artists would rather get a root canal than look at their artist statement every day. You can’t expect your statement to get better until you spend time on it.

5 comments to Suggestion for improving your artist statement

I think more attention would be paid happily to the artist’s statement by both artists and patrons if artists realized that most patrons probably don’t care what the art means to the artist in their own head. What matters to a patron, I think, is what makes them feel like they can look good to their friends and peers. If the statement explicitly provides what the patron can parrot, or better yet can reinterpret having really gotten it and give it, to others, then it’ll be additive rather than distracting. Artists would then have fun working on how to make patrons feel like, in the words of @KathySierra, they kick ass. Peace. @vinylart